Volkswagen Karmann Ghia News

What’s a car without a name? It’s an object that may function superbly well. It might even look impressively tough or beautifully sleek.

And it was Tony Conroy's first love. "I began my love affair with the Karmann Ghia as a schoolboy," the 52-year-old says."I remember vividly asking my dad 'What's that?' when I saw my first one as a youngster. I was eight or nine at the time, and this one particular Karmann was always traveling behind the old school bus.The beautiful shape of the car could almost make it a poor man's Porsche, if not a rich man's Vee Dub."Conroy spent years searching for a suitable car to buy, but they were either outside his budget or needed too much restoration. He even considered importing a left-hand-drive version from the US.In 2005, he found a 1959 model while passing through Sydney on his way home from holidays, bought it for $12,500 and had it shipped home to Adelaide."The body work was pretty good but it just needed a bit of work inside," he says. "I must confess the Karmann Ghia is only a pretend sports car. Although it has gorgeous drop-dead looks and oozes elegance, it has the running gear and engine of your standard early '60s VW Beetle."However, the body is styled by designer Luigi Segre of the famed Italian Ghia design studio with hand-built bodywork by German coach-builder Karmann."In my model's case, it left the factory with a 1192cc (25kW) engine, however as the original died I have taken the opportunity to upgrade the engine's performance to a more respectable 1600cc," he says."My son-in-law, Adam, effectively rebuilt the engine, and Adam also comes in handy as he is a specialised VW mechanic." The Karmann Ghia came with a four-speed floor-shift gearbox and Beetle air-cooled rear engine.The spare wheel, fuel tank and small boot area are under the bonnet while there is compact luggage space behind the rear seats. The spare tyre also plays an integral role in the overall weight distribution and balance of the car."The car is beautiful to drive, you are seated quite low and the car itself is low and for a car of its age it's extremely smooth and zippy on the corners," he says. "I know it is just a car but the way our lives have been changed with the ownership of this vehicle is simply amazing and there are too many stories to tell."The one highlight was my daughter having it as her chauffeured limousine on her wedding day with dad being the driver, of course the front passenger seat had to be extracted so Kathleen with her wedding gown could squeeze in and sit on the rear seat."Conroy uses the car as a daily driver and would never sell it. "If you let it slip through your fingers you'll never get another one," he says. "It took about seven years for this one to fall in my lap."Karmann GhiaYear: August 1959Price New: $3000Price Now: $12-30,000 (valued at $25,000)Engine: 1200cc (original), 1600cc (replacement)Body: 2-door coupeTransmission: 4-speed manual.Got a special car you'd like featured in Carsguide? Modern or classic we're interested in hearing your story. Please send a pic and brief info to mark.hinchliffe@carsguide.com.au

The second is the four double-door garages.  Then he opens the doors to reveal cars stacked on top of each other on hoists. Jags, Mercs, a Porsche, Bentley and even a VW Karmann Cabriolet, plus five 1980s-'90s BMW motorcycles.Bitneris is a serious motoring nut.  But he almost wasn't, thanks to bad experiences with his first car, a "1950s-something" Standard 8.  "What a piece of crap that was. Even the floor fell out," he laughs."I was studying engineering _ it's tough being poor _ and I bought it in total ignorance because the guy that sold it to me left the country and it was still under finance.  They repossessed it and I went through a lot of heartache.  Then I bought a 1947 Fiat. What a piece of crap that was, too."Then came his motoring epiphany.  "The highlight of my life was working for the Ford Motor Company back in the late '60s, early '70s when they were developing the GTHO," he says."My job as a young engineer was to build the plant expansion to make the new models. I built all the assembly lines.  A GTHO cost about $4800 at the time and now they're fetching more than 100 times that. I should have stolen a couple of them.  I used to get to drive them on the weekends after working 80-100 hour weeks. They were great days for motoring."His career took him overseas for the next 30-odd years, living in 21 countries and learning to speak six languages.  Bitneris says his first "collector" car was a 1960 Jaguar XK 150 he bought in 1976 in Canada.  "It didn't cost a lot of money. It was the first one I could afford to buy," he says.He won't talk about how much he paid for any of his cars _ he has mostly forgotten _ and he won't talk about what they are worth now.  "People squander their money. I squander it on cars," he says. "I'd like to think that they could be my superannuation."  Bitneris has owned several different marques, all European."After the Jaguar it's a bit of a liar's contest," he says.  "I've bought a lot of cars I don't have anymore such as Series I and II Rolls-Royce Shadows."  He currently owns a 1961 Bentley Continental Park Ward Cabriolet which is number 68 of only 125 handbuilt at Crewe. It features a 6.25-litre V8 with about 150kW of power and four-calliper brake pistons."I paid a lot of money for that but it's worth a lot of money now," he says.  He also has two Mercedes-Benz 220S models.  One is a 1958 220S Cabriolet like the one Princess Grace died in. He bought it from a "crook" in Western Australia. The other is a 1959 Coupe he bought off a restorer who now wants it back.But Bitneris won't sell it to him. Instead he has flown to Russia to negotiate selling the two Mercs and Bentley to a collector.  He also owns a 1971 Jaguar E-Type Roadster which is one of the first with a V12 engine.  "I love Jags. They were the ants pants in my day. You could pick up women with them," he says.He also tends to favour cabriolets because "that's where the money is".  Sitting on top of one of the Mercs is a 1965 Porsche 356 SC, one of only 12 brought into Australia.  "I bought it from a guy whose wife ran off with the boss and he didn't want her to have it so he sold it to me cheap," he says."It was in totally original condition with a spare engine.  "The gods favoured me that day."  He boasts it has such a good drag co-efficient you can slip it into neutral at 160km/h and it will coast for more than 1.5km before stopping.There is also a 1979 VW Karmann Cabriolet in his garage that he admits is "a piece of crap, but mechanically perfect".  He's thinking of putting a Subaru engine in it.Bitneris is also planning to convert a four-door 1959 Jaguar Mk IX to two doors and right-hand drive with a bonnet that hinges forward like on the E-Type.  "My next project will be a Series 1 E-Type; I'll pull out the engine, gearbox and brakes and strip it down to about 900kg and put in a four-litre modern Jag engine," he says."At 900kg it's lighter than my Porsche 356.  I'll use it as a run-around."  He even has plans to start building replica Porsche RS 61 Spyders using the original drawings.  "It's a tiny car with only has a 1.6-litre engine, but boy is it quick," he says.Bitneris used to drive all of his cars, but now claims he can't afford to register them.  "I mainly drive the E-Type which has been converted to fuel injection using a Skyline GT-R system and injectors," he says.  "The car was quick as it was, but it's quicker now with about 50 per cent extra power."They are all my favourites."  Bitneris says that even as a dedicated revhead, he still has concern for the environment.  "I've got a couple of stills and I'm going to make my own ethanol so I can drive all of these around without having to worry about the cost to the environment or the cost of fuel."

But now the world's most famous convertible specialists, Karmann, has filed for bankruptcy.However, its cash woes are not expected to impact the luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which had deals with the company for the supply of convertible roofs for a range of their cars.Karmann built its last car, a CLK convertible for Mercedes-Benz, last week.Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman, David McCarthy, says the company's contract with Karmann ended when production of the CLK convertible end."I haven't heard whether the next-generation E-Class cabrio will be in-house," he says."I suspect Mercedes will have taken steps to ensure production though."The Stuttgart-based carmaker has some time to find a new supplier as E-cabrio production does not start until next year.Karmann also supplied roofs for the Mini Cooper Cabrio and BMW 1 Series convertible but BMW Australia spokesman, Toni Andreevski, says he does not think supply will be affected by the Karmann decision.Apart from supplying roofs for the Mini and 1 Series, Karmann also assembled and supplied convertible roofs for the Spyker C8 convertible, Pontiac G8 convertible, Volkswagen Beetle convertible, Renault Megane convertible, soft-top Chrysler Crossfire Roadster and Audi A4 cabrio.After restructuring its German operations, Karmman will concentrate on building car components.Made famous for building the VW Karmann Ghia, the company is being forced to restructure against the backdrop of the global car industry slump."We could no longer avoid shutting down the vehicle assembly line because auto manufacturers strategies have changed," the company's administrator, Ottmar Hermann, told German media last week.The Karmann Ghia used the durable VW Beetle's mechanicals with a body styled by the Ghia studio in Italy.The result was an enduring two-door body available in both coupe and cabriolet models.The specialist company has made more than 3.3 million convertibles since 1949.More than 2000 people work for the firm in Germany, based in Osnabrueck, and the company has about 8000 employees globally.Relations between German management and unions have soured in recent months.A row broke out between management and unions over why the company collapsed and how some of its worker pay and entitlements would be paid out.However, Karmann's North American division, based in Detroit, will continue to provide convertible roofs for Ford, Chrysler, General Motors and Volkswagen.Karmann USA says the restructuring of the German operations and closure of its assembly line in Germany will not have a big impact on the company's North American operations.